H. D. Deve Gowda

Haradanahalli Dodde Gowda Deve Gowda was the eleventh Prime Minister of India and was also the fourteenth Chief Minister of Karnataka. He is the leader of the Janata Dal (Secular) political party and is also a member of the Parliament representing the Hassan district of Karnataka. He carved a niche for himself while working as the head of Anjaneya Co-operative Society and later on as a member of the Taluk Development Board, Holenarasipura. His persistent experience and skill of convincing the public allowed him to handle various problems of Karnataka. Shri H.D. Deve Gowda is well known for listening patiently to every class of society and was thus called the 'Son of the Soil'. During his working days, he was also engaged in reading books in the library of the Legislative Assembly. Apart from this, he is popular for performing and maintaining the reputation and dignity of the Parliament. Read on to know more about the life of H.D. Deve Gowda and his climb to the top.

Early Life
Gowda was born on 18th May, 1933 in Haradanahalli village of Holenarasipurataluk, Hassan district in Karnataka. He was the son of Shri Dodde Gowda and Smt. Devamma. He belongs to an agriculturalist family and is a diploma holder in civil engineering. After completing his education at the age of twenty, Gowda got into politics. He was married to Chennamma and has four sons, H.D. Balakrishna Gowda, H.D. Revanna, Dr. H.D. Ramesh and H. D. Kumaraswamy. He also has two daughters, H.D. Anusuya and H.D. Shailaja. One of his sons, H. D. Kumaraswamy, was the Chief Minister of Karnataka.

Career
Gowda started his political career at an early age and in 1953 joined the Indian National Congress Party and worked as party worker till 1962. He then stood for elections as an independent candidate to the Karnataka Legislative Assembly and successfully won a seat for himself in the same. He was elected from the Holenarsipur constituency for three consecutive terms i.e. the fourth (1967-71), the fifth (1972-77) and the sixth (1978-83) assemblies. He served as the 'Leader of Opposition' in the Legislative Assembly from 1972 to 1976 and from 1976 to 1977. In 1975, he was prisoned for eighteen months when he opposed the Emergency in the country declared by the then Prime Minister Smt. Indira Gandhi. During this time, he increased his political knowledge through comprehensive reading and by talking to other Indian politicians who were also jailed at that time. This helped a lot in the shaping of his personality and in the changing of his viewpoints. On 22nd November, 1982, Gowda resigned from the sixth Legislative Assembly. Later on, he became the Minister of Public Works and Irrigation and a member of the seventh and eighth Legislative Assembly. He started several irrigation projects during his tenure as an Irrigation Minister. In 1987, he quit from the cabinet to protest against inadequate distribution of funds for irrigation. In 1989, he tasted defeat after losing the elections as the Janata Dal party won only two seats out of the 222 assembly seats. After this, in 1991, he was elected to the Parliament from the Hassan Lok Sabha constituency. He played an important role in bringing up the problems of the people of Karnataka, especially farmers. He gained great respect from everyone in the Parliament as well as from the general public. He became the leader of Janata Dal party twice. He was elected as the frontrunner of the Janata Dal legislative party and on 11th December, 1994, he took an oath as the 14th Chief Minister of Karnataka. After this great success, he was elected to the Ramanagar Assembly and won by enormous votes. Shri H.D. Deve Gowda went to Switzerland and other Middle Eastern countries in 1995 on tour and attended the Forum of International Economists. In 1996, when the Congress Party lost power after the defeat in the general elections, the then Prime Minister P. V. Narsimha Rao resigned and Shri H.D. Deve Gowda became the eleventh Prime Minister of India. This turn of events happened because the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) was unsuccessful in forming the government and the then coalition government of the United Front (a group of regional parties and Non-Congress and Non-BJP combined) was formed. H.D. Deve Gowda was made leader of this coalition government. After becoming the Prime Minister, he resigned as the Chief Minister of Karnataka. He was the Prime Minister of India from 1st June, 1996 to 21st April, 1997.

Contribution
Shri H.D. Deve Gowda was a prominent political personality who played an efficient role in uplifting the lower classes of society, mainly agrarians. He also did a lot for the development of Karnataka. When he was the Chief Minister of Karnataka, he introduced a reservation system that favored the minority, backward classes, scheduled castes and tribes and women too. He solved the problem of 'Idgah Maidan' in Hubli and also announced a complete survey of the state for the purpose of its development. Once the survey was done with, the government took relief measures.

Timeline

1933: Born in Haradanahalli Village, Hassan District, Karnataka1953: Joined the Indian National Congress Party1972-76: Became the leader of the opposition1975: Sent to jail1982: Resigned from the sixth legislative assembly1987: Resigned from the cabinet1989: Lost the elections 1991: Elected from Hassan to the Lok Sabha1994: Became the Leader of the Janata Dal party and the fourteenth Chief Minister of Karnataka 1995: Went to Singapore and Middle Eastern countries on tour1996: Became the eleventh Prime Minister of India